A new prenylated xanthone, 1,6-dihydroxy-3,7-dimethoxy-2-(3,7-dimethyloct-2,6-dienyl) xanthone (3-O-methylcowaxanthone) (1), together with four known xanthones, cowaxanthone (2), 7-O-methylgarcinone (3), a-mangostin (4) and.-mangostin (5) were isolated from the latex of Garcinia cowa. The structure of compound 1 was elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation, including 1D and 2D NMR and HREIMS. The cytotoxic activitiy of 1 against five human cancer cell lines, HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7 and SW480, was evaluated, but it was inactive (IC50>40 mu M).